ODESSA – No. 23 Tarleton swept its first Lone Star Conference doubleheader of the season on a milestone night for right-handed pitcher Jordan Withrow. The Texans earned a pair of wins over UT Permian Basin.
Game 1: No. 23 Tarleton 9, UT Permian Basin 1 (6)
First-inning home runs provided plenty of run support for Jordan Withrow as the senior right-hander moved into a tie with her former teammate Haley Freyman for the most pitching victories in Tarleton history (67).
The Texans defeated UT Permian Basin 9-1 in six innings on Withrow’s milestone night.
Georgia Capell, who inched closer to a milestone of her own, got the scoring started right away with a two-run long ball to get the Texans on the board. Three of the next five hitters loaded the bases for Tarleton with two outs in the first and Miranda Pruitt cashed in with, arguably, the most memorable first collegiate hit in program history – a grand slam for her first career base knock – to cap off a six-run first inning. Capell’s home run was the 40th of her career and she is now one behind Arianna Rodriguez for the all-time mark.
Tarleton tacked on two more in the second – again with two outs – when Kristen Zuehl plated two with a two-run single to center for an 8-0 Texan lead. Shelby Carter drove in the final run of the night on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Meanwhile, Withrow was dominant. The right-hander fired a complete game with six strikeouts while allowing a run on four walks and five hits. With the win, Withrow improves to 8-3 on the season and 67-20 all-time at Tarleton. She already holds the program record for strikeouts (646) and will become the program’s all-time wins leader with her next victory.
This marks the second time in program history that a player became the program’s all-time wins leader by surpassing a former teammate. Carla Geeslin passed her two-year teammate Jill Ratliff to become the all-time wins leader in 2004. Geeslin and Ratliff played together in 2001 and 2002. Withrow and Freyman were teammates in 2017 and 2018.
Capell and Crumpley each boasted two hits for the game while Hallie Saintignan, Morgan Ling, Morgan Medford, Zuehl, Pruitt and Jessica Lee had one each in the 10-hit performance. Pruitt’s four RBI led the team.
Game 2: No. 23 Tarleton 6, UT Permian Basin 2
A Miranda Pruitt home run was the big blow in a five-run sixth inning that turned a pitcher’s duel into a blowout win for the No. 23 Texans in the nightcap at UT Permian Basin.
Tarleton cracked the scoreboard first in the third inning when a dropped foul ball breathed new life into a Destiny Crumpley at bat. The Tarleton senior cashed in with a two-out, full-count single to left to bring home Hallie Saintignan for a 1-0 lead.
After UTPB tied things with a solo run in the fourth to break up Tristan Bridges’ no-hit efforts, Georgia Capell and Crumpley led off the sixth with a hit by pitch and walk. Shelby Carter plated Capell with a groundout and then Crumpley’s pinch-runner Danyel Kesselus scored on a wild pitch to give the Texans a 3-1 lead.
Then, Miranda Pruitt ripped her second home run of the twin bill – a three-run blast to put the Texans up by five. This was Pruitt’s second hit of her career, which now gives her two hits for two home runs and seven RBI in her first two career starts.
Tristan Bridges finished things off with a scoreless sixth and a harmless, one-run seventh inning to complete the sweep. Bridges fired all seven innings and struck out four.
Crumpley paced the offense with two hits while Saintignan, Capell, Medford, Zuehl and Pruitt had one each for Tarleton.
The Texans will continue heading west for a Sunday afternoon doubleheader at Western New Mexico in Silver City on Sunday at 11 a.m.
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